Todd Rundgren discusses his passion for embracing the new in clip from new episode of AXS TV’s ‘Mixtape’

Courtesy of Joy Factory/AXS TVTodd Rundgren is featured on the latest episode of the AXS TV series Mixtape, airing tonight at 8:30 p.m. ET/5:30 p.m. PT.

The show features the prolific artist, who recently was nominated for induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame for a second straight year, sharing stories about his experiences as a producer and a musician with such legends as Janis Joplin, The Who‘s Pete Townsend and George Harrison.

In a preview clip from the program, Todd explains why he always is interested in exploring uncharted musical territory with every new project.

“I didn’t like the idea of being compared to other people,” he declares. “I thought, ‘I have to do something nobody else can do or would do, or else what’s the point?…What’s the point of constantly trying to pursue and figure out what it is that the audience wants to hear instead of doing what you want to do?'”

Rundgren also maintains that he constantly finds himself asking such questions as “‘Is what I’m doing any relevant?’ ‘Am I simply doing this out of habit?’ [and] ‘Does it still thrill me to do it?'” He adds, “And I expect the same from my contemporaries.”

As with every guest featured on Mixtape, Todd has created a personal playlist that includes some of his favorite all-time songs, as well as tunes that shaped their lives and impacted their careers. Rundgren’s mixtape features an entire compilation of recordings by blues greats Junior Wells and Buddy Guy, and nods to the singers he currently is touring with on the “It Was Fifty Years Ago Today” White Album tribute trek — Christopher Cross, The Monkees‘ Micky Dolenz, Badfinger‘s Joey Molland and ex-Chicago singer Jason Scheff.